


Permanently

by ArtsyAfrodite



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Gallavich, I really don't know what else to tag since this is short, M/M, Tattoos, This is romanticized, What I think Mickey would do if Ian were to be hospitalized, may seem slightly ooc but it's pure sap so ay!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 01:54:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2330909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtsyAfrodite/pseuds/ArtsyAfrodite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What’s this on your arm?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Permanently

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lostyourwar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostyourwar/gifts).



> This is for Nataly because she's a ray of sunshine, and I appreciate her. Plus, I wrote a few sentences on Tumblr I said I would write into something more for her. It's not as long as what I usually write, but it did what I needed it to. Very reminiscent of my roots in poetry. :)))

“What’s this on your arm?”

Rendered speechless, he thinks.  Articulation is stuck to the roof of his mouth as he instead communicates with a piercing blue gaze, and the rhythm of two heartbeats that gently line the cadence of the moment.

 

_Listen; since not with your ears, with your eyes and how well you know me._

_The hospital had you, and because I didn’t, I got selfish.  You make me needy, you should know this by now.  But more than that, I envied everything there, right down to the white-washed walls of your room and the fact they were able to hear you breathe at night when I couldn’t.  I felt cheated, so I took what was unfair and made it fair by turning it all into the mark on my heart._

_It was as easy as it was true._

_So what’s this on my arm you ask?  We both know it’s not a matter of ‘what’ – it’s the ‘why’ that bridges the gap between your question and my action.  It’s how I feel about you._

_Don’t you know that while you were gone I could no longer feel you in the ways I knew best?  I don’t understand not feeling you.  So I took what was foreign and wrote over it with the indelible lines of familiarity.  What I didn’t know was not having you next to me, touching me, and since my skin was bare, I simply wrote you there.  That’s all.  On my arm is something I know and will always need._

_You._

Ian hears this loud and clear, no words needing to be exchanged.  It’s a marvel how one look from Mickey can say so much.  “You really did it,” he says rhetorically as he lays his head on Mickey’s chest, their bodies spread comfortably on the bed.

“Yeah,” Mickey finally responds, no longer dumb from the dream he’s holding.  He’d placed his hand behind his head a few minutes ago, professing just how deeply he loved Ian in a single movement. 

“Why?” Ian asks, despite having an idea why Mickey would do such a thing.  He places his hand over the inside of his boyfriend’s bicep, his fingers tracing what he’s written his entire life – yet it feels like the first time.  As he studies the tattoo, the rise and fall of the inked letters remind Ian that his name is not only imprinted on Mickey’s skin, but it’s inside of him.  “It’s my name.”

“It’s mine too,” Mickey responds, earning a confused look from Ian.  As far as his eyes can see, the tattoo reads _Ian._ The fairly large scripted letters are clear. 

“Is it now?”

The older boy remains silent and smiles because yes, it is.  It became his the first time he kissed Ian, not only tasting him, but swallowing his name whole the moment he inhaled the surprised smile on his lips.  There was no getting it out after that.  But knowing this moment is far from a matter of what he chose to write in his skin, but of why, he fixes the words he wants to say so they make sense.

Mickey turns his head to get a better view of the indentations of Ian’s ribs he’s committed to memory.  He knows every muscle, every ripple, every freckle – he knows the eagle perched atop the rifle.  It’s essentially something Ian got as a result of him, so he did the same and now they lay tangled and _even_.  He begins to gently outline the tattoo, each fine line telling many of Ian’s untold stories.  Ian mirrors the gentleness and continues to outline his ink, as _I love you_ joins his name, silently bleeding through the tips of his fingers. 

The answer is simple, really.  Mickey needs Ian.  He needs him near him, in front of him, behind him, next to him.  But more importantly, he needs him _on_ him in more ways than one that aren’t momentary, even if the moments are long. 

“I need you on me,” Mickey whispers into Ian’s hair, “permanently.”

**Author's Note:**

> I want Mickey to get a new tattoo so bad! While it doesn't necessarily have to be Ian's name (to be honest I wouldn't even get someone's name, it was just used for effect in this fic), it could be inspired by him, and on the inside of his bicep preferably. I wrote this to the song, "The Only Reason" by JP Cooper...SO beautiful. I love that guy. Well, I hope you enjoyed this short fic. It kind of helped me with some writer's block for my WIP's as well. Love you all! This is for you Nataly. <3<3


End file.
